Will New 75 MPH Limit IncreaseTexas Highway Injuries?

Yesterday the Texas Transportation Commisision raised the speed limit from 70 to 75 on nine of our interstates as soon as new signs are posted.

About 1,500 miles of interstates will be a little faster to drive on, with the longest stretch of 310 miles on Interstate 20 starting west of Fort Worth and going out to far West Texas. Here is the map of the affected highways:

Other long stretches of highways are I-30 in East Texas, I-10 between San Antonio and Houston, and I-45 between Dallas and Houston.

As a personal injury lawyer specializing in auto and truck collisions, I have to wonder if increasing these speed limits will increase the number and severity of crashes .

After all, in 2010, there were 104,000 car crashes causes by speeding or failing to control speed. There were also 78,000 caused by driver inattention. Often both factors were listed on police report.